


More Than Partners

by Jediknight_7567



Category: NCIS: New Orleans
Genre: F/M, cause Chris is great at pissing Brody off, just for a minute, mention of navy liaison
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-22
Updated: 2015-02-22
Packaged: 2018-03-14 13:49:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3412979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jediknight_7567/pseuds/Jediknight_7567
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Brody asks about LaSalle's relationship with Lieutenant Watkins, his answer is enough to send her over the edge.</p>
            </blockquote>





	More Than Partners

            “So, you and Lieutenant Watkins, huh?” Brody said as soon as she entered the kitchen. LaSalle dropped his spoon into his cereal in what seemed like surprise but could have been any number of things.

            “How the hell…”

            “You two are too close for that to not be something.” LaSalle shot her his ten-thousand-percent-done-with-your-shit look and leaned back in his chair. It wasn’t that she was necessarily wrong, it’s that she was even talking about it. Sure there’d be an on-and-off relationship there, but he guessed Brody to be the last one to mention it. “You’re not denying it.”

            “Why should I deny what’s true?”

            His statement changed something in Brody, and despite the subtlety of it, even LaSalle noticed. It wasn’t exactly his area of expertise—Brody was the interrogator—but the way her shoulders fell just slightly, a little bit of the light in her eyes seemed to dissipate. He’d said something wrong, and Brody wasn’t going to speak up about it.

            And until they finished the case that was more than likely the reason for their phones simultaneously ringing, he wouldn’t either.

* * *

 

            “Ya asked about me and Addie earlier,” LaSalle said, breaking the silence in the squad room, “and I only sorta gave ya an answer.”

            “You said you wouldn’t deny what was true,” Brody pointed out. “That’s enough of an answer.”

            “Yeah, but I thought ya’d like an actual answer.” In that respect, he was correct. Hearing a yes or no would be nice, but honestly it might break her. She wanted—no, _needed_ —the confirmation before she could come to grips with how she felt. Or even find out how she felt.

            Before anything more was said, LaSalle made his way across the room to lean on her desk. Almost a little too close. No, he was too close. Brody gnawed at the inside of her cheek to avoid saying anything under her breath that he might hear. God, he needed to stop with the whole casual intimacy thing. She could feel the warmth radiating from him, smell Old Spice on him, and see his shirt riding up just a little bit over the waistband of his jeans to reveal a sliver of pale skin.

            It was enough to make her roll her chair just a little bit closer.

            “I guess a confirmation or whatever you’re going to give me would be nice.”

            “Well, Addie and I had discussed it before, and nothin’ had ever come of it. We decided we knew each other too well for anythin’ to work.” That was a welcome relief to Brody, but she had a feeling that wasn’t the end of it. “But during Christmas, while you and Pride were carolin’, she came and talked to me. Ya know I’m not much of Christmas person, but… well, somehow I became one for a night. With her. So, to answer your question earlier, yes. Addie and I are datin’, seein’ each other, however ya wanna put it.”

            Brody struggled to keep her disappointment from showing. But, even as she fought to keep her composure, she could feel her shoulders slump, her entire body relax, tears start to sting her eyes, and her stomach tighten. She knew LaSalle would notice, but at that point it didn’t matter to her. All she wanted was to curl into a ball and cry for an hour or two.

            Where the feelings had even come from, she had no idea. Something in LaSalle’s Southern boy charm had drawn her in, and she was stuck. Stuck caring a bit too much. Stuck watching as he fell in love with someone else. Stuck being his partner and nothing more.

            “Brody?” LaSalle’s voice cut into her thoughts. “Ya okay?”

            She hadn’t even noticed his hand on her shoulder, him moving closer to her. Hiding her face as best she could, Brody pushed his hand off her shoulder, turned away and stood up. By the time she’d gotten few paces away, tears had begun to escape her eyes and she reached up to wipe them away.

            “D-did I say somethin’ wrong?” LaSalle stuttered. He stayed where he was, not wanting to make things any worse. “Brody, I just thought ya’d want a straight answer. I didn’t exactly give ya one this mornin’.”

            “No,” Brody choked out. “No, it’s okay.”

            “It’s obviously not. The Meredith Brody I know would not be actin’ like this if she were okay.”

            Brody had had enough by that time. She didn’t care if he saw her cry. She didn’t care if he thought she was being weird, or too sensitive. She just didn’t care. So she looked him straight in the eye and didn’t hold back.

            “Okay, fine. You got me. I’m not okay. Wanna know why?” She didn’t even give him a chance to answer. “Because for some stupid reason, I care about you! Not in the way of I look out for my partner because we’re friends and I’ve got his back. No. You have this thing with being so casually intimate that I got caught up in all of it and I started caring more than I probably should! And now you’re with someone else and I get to watch as you spend time with _her_! I get to watch as you care for _her_ and fall in love with _her_!”

            Brody had only stopped for breath, but when she saw LaSalle staring in a mixture of fear and surprise, she didn’t bother to continue. Silence fell over the squad room again, and neither of them wanted to look away. So for a while they just stood there, staring at each other, Brody’s breath coming heavily and tears on her cheeks, LaSalle scared out of his wits by her outburst.

            When one of them finally moved, it was LaSalle. His steps were slow and careful, like he was trying not to startle her. Brody couldn’t even move. She stood there while her partner came closer and closer until he was inches away and reaching up to wipe tears from her cheeks.

            “That is exactly what I wanted to hear tonight,” were the only words spoken before LaSalle closed the gap between them, pressing his lips to Brody’s.

            He felt his partner stiffen suddenly, his only response to bring a hand to the small of her back and pull her body flush to his. A moment later her body relaxed into the kiss, her arms winding around his neck and bringing him closer. It wasn’t long before LaSalle pulled away, even though all he wanted to do was be that close to her for as long as he could.

            “What the hell?” Brody breathed as they both loosened their grip on the other.

            “What ‘what the hell?’” LaSalle retorted.

            “You know what I’m talking about, jackass!” LaSalle chuckled as she pushed him away. He fell back to lean on her desk, pulling her with him. Brody let out a tiny shriek as he did so and gave an involuntary giggle when she realized she was now standing between his legs.

            “Okay, so what’s the deal?” he asked, not even acknowledging how they were arranged.

            “What the hell was with the kiss?” Brody asked, bringing her hands up to rest on his shoulders.

            “Well,” LaSalle began, resting his own hands on his partner’s waist, “Addie and I have been havin’ this on-again, off-again relationship for about a year. So, I wasn’t denying anything this mornin’, because it was true. We were sorta together sometimes. And Christmas was one of those times.”

            “Okay, got that much. Now about what happened a few minutes ago?”

            “I saw how ya reacted to my sort of confirmation this mornin’. It was like a part of ya broke. I wanted to see how bad it was. So, I got you riled in the only way I could think of. Confirmin’ what I more or less told you this mornin’.”

            “You’re an ass,” Brody said, playfully punching him in the chest.

            “I will accept that.”

            “So what are we?”

            “Well, I would hope more than partners at this point.”

            “You’re not wrong there.”


End file.
